It came in a box and left in a bag

What is it? Our Christmas tree. The end was a little like an episode of the Sopranos. After knocking off almost all of the needles just by removing the ornaments, garland and lights, Picard finished the job by hacking it into pieces, putting the parts into a big black bag and vacuuming up the evidence. In our defense, it was half-dead when it came in the mail. Yeah, Picard and Dior learned there are some things you shouldn't buy online. Next year's Christmas tree will come from our local nursery. You can view the carnage by clicking on the set of picture below. Or you can click here to see all the pictures on one page.






Now that I think about it, 2007 was sort of like our Christmas tree. It was all fresh, pretty and new in January, but mid-way through it was pretty obvious that it was going to take some Charlie Brown unconditional love to make it to the other side. Everything was hard this year.

Work was hard - For half the year we thought Picard's place of employment would close before he could find another job. My organization made some drastic changes to our 2007 strategic plan last minute that set us behind a year in growth and development.

The Adoption was hard - Before the endless wait there was the ambiguous new rules. Did we meet China's new requirements? Would they even allow us to apply to adopt a Chinese child?

Home ownership was hard - In one year, we replaced our roof, some siding, removed a couple trees and painted the house.

But, we definitely had some bright points too.

Both Picard and I got to spend another year with all of our family members being healthy. My brother got married! His wife is now pregnant! The jobs, the house and the adoption rules...they all turned out o.k. too.

So, in the end 2007 had it's share of yin and yang. I'm happy to send it off. I look forward to bringing in the new year this evening with friends. Tomorrow, after the champagne wears off, I'll post some party pictures and my New Year's Resolutions.

For now, my mantra is come on 2008, LET'S MAKE IT GREAT!